1997 Toyota Tacoma - Extreme Taco

James Gunter Bailey Sr., Aka Gunner, is a mere 45 years old and figured it was time to build a truck to cruise with his son, James Jr. Both are prominent members of Sunset San Diego and have been active in the scene for the last few years.

Gunner's cousin, Brian Jendro, worked on an old Negative Camber cover truck that was owned by Chris "Slapper" Call. Gunner caught wind that this truck was up for sale and Gunner instantly knew that it was time for him to go all out. Besides his cousin, Brian Jendro, Gunner had two other main sources of motivation. First, he wanted to show everyone that it is ok to buy an already built ride to keep it alive by adding your own personal touches. The other is closer to the heart--his mother. Gunner's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and like anyone, Gunner wanted to make his mom proud. After a 5th of Jack, Gunner took his mom's favorite colors and sketched up a sweet rendering that would put Surface Nick to shame. Using only a few crayons and napkins, it looked like something ONLY a mom could be proud of. All kidding aside, Gunner did want to use his mom's favorite color, purple, as a theme for the build.

After picking up the 1997 Toyota Tacoma, Gunner made only two phone calls. The first was to Devious Customs to update the suspension, because after all, Jendro had built the suspension a decade ago. and even though it was holding up just fine, Gunner wanted to modernize the truck and bring it up to today's standards. So Jeff and the crew got busy building a back half and a one-off forward-link system with a custom wishbone design. As this wasn't going to just be a show truck, the Taco was set up using Bilstein shock absorbers and Slam Specialties airbags for the perfect ride quality that Gunner was after. After the boys at Devious were done with the suspension, it was time to take this Taco to the extreme.

Gunner's second phone call was made to Joel "Grommit" Sadenwasser over at Extreme Audio & Kustoms. This turned out to be the best phone call he could have made because the boys knew exactly what to do to really make this Tacoma stand apart from the rest. After a few conversations a budget was set for a complete transformation inside and out. They agreed that the use of purple would be key. So black, silver, and purple quickly filled the shop as everyone got down to business. The truck was set to be ready to debut at the Forbidden Fantasy show as you guys might have read about in the buildup story we did in last month's issue. What we didn't tell you was the fact that Gunner dropped his truck off and would not see it until completion! That's right, no visits to the shop, no preview pics, just suspense. But this is the way Gunner wanted it, because he trusted the boys at Extreme Audio & Kustoms with his life and he wanted to be surprised when it was all said and done. Well, he certainly got his wish because a few months later when the truck was unveiled to him for the first time, he burst into tears. The Extreme Taco was gorgeous and more than anything Gunner had ever hoped for.

Maybe dreams really do come true, because Gunner's mom fought the cancer and won, and Gunner was able to share his creation with his mom, son, family, and friends, and can enjoy it for years to come. For more information and specs on this amazing build, check out The Lowdown.

Special Thanks From Owner"I want to thank my son James "Chubbz" that minitrucks right alongside of me, my cousin Brian Jendro, all my friends and family in Sunset, Joel, Adam, Matt, and everyone at Extreme Audio and Kustoms, Mini Truckin' magazine, Jeff from Devious Customs, Swats, Cheeks, Big Chris, JP, Taylor, Stew for being my tow pig, also everyone who drank with me in my garage waiting for the truck to come home, and most of all my mom, a cancer survivor, without her none of this would be possible."